Brunswick

Located in Essex County, Brunswick is located on the Connecticut River and bounded by Maidstone and Ferdinand. Chartered by Benning Wentworth in 1761 to 64 settlers, the town encompasses a little over 15,000 acres.

According the Vermont Historical Gazetteer, no town in Essex County originally contained more white pine timber than Brunswick. The town was organized in 1796. As with Ferdinand and Lunenburg, Brunswick’s name comes from Benning Wentworth’s lifelong but ultimately unsuccessful efforts to curry enough favor with his king to gain a title. All of the names come from the origins of Britain’s royal house of Hanover. The first road in town was surveyed in 1790 and it was laid up the Connecticut River from the north line of Maidstone to the south line of Bloomfield and followed the same track as Route 102.

The Nulhegan River runs across the northeast corner of the town. This river was a great thoroughfare of the Native Americans in their migrations from the St. Lawrence waters to the Atlantic Ocean. Paul Stream is a beautiful stream of pure water taking its rise in the town of Granby and Ferdinand and historically, it accommodated several lumber mills. Sparsely populated and densely forested, Brunswick has several small, remote ponds like Wheeler and Dennis.

The Nulhegan Basin Division, part of the Silvio O. Conte National Fish and Wildlife Refuge, was established to protect the diversity and abundance of native species within the 7.2 million-acre Connecticut River watershed. An extensive road system gives visitors the ability to experience the rugged quality of the Division and access to scenic vistas, perfect for wildlife dependent recreation.

Brunswick is accessed from the north and south by Route 102, and from the west b Route 105. The town of Brighton is 21 miles to the west, Guildhall is 19 miles south and Canaan is 24 miles north.